Kleptocracy Daily: May 3, 2017

DETAILS

Despite his promise to “drain the swamp”, 3 months after Trump moved into the White House at least 9 people who worked on his transition have registered as lobbyists.

Russia kicked off the trial of a prominent New York real-estate developer and former Guggenheim Museum board member who is accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds to fuel her lavish lifestyle; the raft of alleged fraud and money laundering crimes stem from her business operations in Russia while her now ex-husband served as the finance minister of the Moscow Oblast.

Ukraine started returning an estimated $1.5 billion in assets allegedly stolen from the Kyiv government by ousted former President Viktor Yanukovych and his associates.

A Latvian-based consultant, who has managed offshores for the wealthy and politically influential in Russia, has emerged as an intermediary in helping arrange a Russian loan for the political party of Marine Le Pen.